We are heading to SA in late March but only have about 4 days... so i'm trying to fit in what we can without TOO much driving. We definitely want to visit Barossa Valley but I am torn about heading to McLaren Vale or farther down the Flerieu. Here's what i have sketched out so far:

Day 1 - arrive, spend day/evening in adelaide
Day 2 - drive to Barossa - probably spend the night (vs. go back to Adelaide!)
Question 1: spouse wants to 'wing it' but I am concerned that it may be busy due to fall/harvest and may require precious time to find somewhere to stay. Is it necessary to arrange in advance? Any suggestions?

Day 3 - head down to McLaren Vale or maybe farther?
Question 2 and 3: do we need to go back through Adelaide or is there an easier/better way to go? How far is the distance or how long would that take? I can't tell from my map plus everything is listed as distance from Adeliade

Day 4 - Not sure, depends on the above.
Question 4: we have a 10 am flight the next day (day 5); is it necessary to drive back and stay in Adelaide? Or is it feasible to stay south and drive to the airport in the AM?

Overall, is this too much criss-crossing and driving? We dont have express plans, want to enjoy the scenary, stop for snacks and/or wine-tasting. Nothing serious - just want to toodle along.

Any help and suggestions would be appreciated! I've seen lots of other posts with some of the bits but am having trouble stringing it altogether.

thanks!

Hi dandc -

I struggled with some of the same issues as you when planning our trip to SA in September even though we had loads more time.

As memory serves, it takes about an hour to drive from Adelaide to Barossa. There are so many towns and wineries to visit in the area, that if it were me, I'd spend two nights here instead of heading to McLaren Vale - less driving and moving about, it's a prettier area IMO and in my experience, there were fewer people than in McLaren Vale, which felt more like an Adelaide suburb than a distinct area in its own right.

Then I'd head to the Adelaide Hills - more wineries, cheese makers and berry farms, the Mt Lofty Ranges, bushwalks, national parks, more small towns, lots to see and do. I'd spend the rest of my time here, including the night before the flight out, and head back to the airport from here the day of departure, getting an early start instead of moving hotels yet again to be closer to the airport.

Lodging fills up, particularly on weekends. I'd suggest booking in advance to save precious time.

We really enjoyed our stay at Casa Rossa in Lyndoch, which was centrally located for seeing the valley.

I have a very detailed trip report on SA posted here on Fodor's if you want some ideas. Just click on my name and look for 'Eating our way across South Australia.'

Good luck - SA is a beautiful place.

excellent, thanks for the suggestions and i'll check out your other post. spouse wanted to go to the coast but it just seems too ambitious given the limited time.

Any other sugestions out there for lodging, in Adelaide Hills, or even elsewhere in Barossa?

thanks!

Hi,

We spent two nights in Clara Valley and four nights in Adelaide Hills this past Feb. The Adelaide Hills is well located to visit the wine and beach areas neat Adelaide. We did a nice day trip down to McLaren Vale and farther down the Flerieu from Adelaide Hills when we were there this past Feb. There is a nice loop drive. There is also plenty to do very close by.

Look at our trip report for more information on what there is to do and see in Clara, Barossa and Adelaide Hills:

www.aroundtheworldin132days.blogspot.com

On the right side, click on Feb and scroll to Feb 9 to 15 for both Clara and Adelaide Hills

The area around Adelaide is great!

Melnq8, as usual has given you good advice, also.

As for accommodations, these sites might help:

http://www.wotif.com/hotels/australi...sa-hotels.html

http://www.stayz.com.au/accommodatio...barossa-valley

http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel.../accommodation

I found this site invaluable when planning my SA trip:

http://www.southaustralia.com

Mt Lofty House in the Hills might be a nice one night option as it is well situated to drive into the hills .Things about it I loved and others I found annoying.

Hi dandc, having lived many years of my life close to the Barossa and now living virtually within the McLaren Vale region - I would vote for the south. The McLaren Vale region is just as pretty (IMO) and has the added attraction of being close to the coast (which is a spectacular coast.)In March the Barossa will be quite dry and potentially hot. Close to McLaren Vale (within half an hour) are Victor Harbor (popular and busy seaside town) and also the Adelaide Hills wine region.
In the heart of McLaren Vale there are a group of 6 studio apartments that have received great reviews locally and are very well situated if there are just the two of you..
http://www.mvsa.com.au/
There are more than enough wineries and restaurants here to keep you busy! You could spend day 2 here and then drive down to Kangaroo Island for day 3 (and maybe part of day 4) if that interests you? Otherwise, the Adelaide Hills, coast and McLaren Vale would easily keep you occupied without wasting lots of time in transit.
If you have any specific questions, I will try and help out.

Ozgirl,
is it necessary to book in advance if we go south? Travel is Fri-Sun so assuming we'd need to decide and make the arrangements.
Also, if we decide to visit Barossa for a day, is there a good way to get down to McLaren Vale? Or is it necessary to travel back through Adelaide? Ra

Spouse is pushing for the coast (=beach) so trying to accomodate but having trouble making the decision which way to go....
thanks,
dandc

dandc, I think especially if travel is Fri-Sun you would have much nicer choices if you decide in advance because this is a very popular weekend break for visitors. I am not saying you wouldn't get in anywhere but it may not be your first choice. It is mostly B&B/self catering type of accom not dotted with 'hotels' with last minute availability. Unfortunately Barossa to McLaren Vale is via Adelaide basically - 2-3 hours depending on traffic and where in Barossa you are coming from.
There is a "back way" through the hills but not very direct at all.

ok! I suspected as much and this means I just need to get my spouse to DECIDE! ha-ha. thanks for the detail on the driving time as well.

..."Day 3 - head down to McLaren Vale or maybe farther?
Question 2 and 3: do we need to go back through Adelaide or is there an easier/better way to go? How far is the distance or how long would that take?"....

Actually there is a very pleasant drive from Adelaide Hills to the coast with out back travking to Adelaide. We drove from our B&B cottage located in Oakbank. It was a nice country drive...we had a good road map of South Australia and directions from the owner of the cottage. We made a big loop down to McLaren Vale and over to Victor Harbor and back.

...About 10am we drove over to Hahndorf (~15 minutes away)originally settled by German immigrants. This town definitely has a different look than others with their more English-Australian rugged look, We walked the main street, up one side and down the other, and explored shops of interest and an old school that is now a museum. There was one craft shop that handled a number of South Australian artists.

Once done with Hahndorf, it was about noon and we decided to drive on down to McLaren Vale and along the coast to Cape Jervis. We have been told to allow two hours to get to Cape Jervis from the cottage. We found the marker to Echunga (a regular looking street sign, about 5 by 14 inches, covered by a tree limb) just after we entered Hahndorf and headed south.

From Echunga we headed to Willunga, driving along the edge of McLaren Vale area, another pretty wine region running right down to the coast. This is a very hilly, rural area of vines and small wheat fields, with pretty little, English looking, very small villages along the way. At the coast we turn toward McLaren Vale. There was a pretty drive along the bluff overlooking the beach for several kilometers between Sellicks Beach and Port Willunga. We actually went down on the beach for a while, as cars are allowed to do so on this section. The water was a beautiful blue green with white sand beaches. Looking back inland, we could see the hills covered with vines, rising up from the shallow coastal plain.

Then we headed east to Cape Jervis along the Fleurieu Way to check out the ferry to Kangaroo Island. This was a pretty drive, very scenic, which was nice since we would do this part again on Sunday! At Cape Jervis, the "Spirit of Kangaroo" ferry was just leaving. It only took a little over two hours to get here so we continued our exploring.

From Cape Jervis we headed east along the Fleurier Way to Victor Harbor. Here the road climbed up and ran along the spine of the coastal mountains and, at places, we looked down the valleys to the ocean on both sides, gorgeous! This is wheat and cattle country that runs right to the bluffs overlooking the water. The owner of the cottage told us to be sure to do this drive and he was so right!

Victor Harbor is a colonial seaside town on an arch of Encounter Bay that has been popular with the Australians since the 1800's. It has an esplanade that runs along the seashore with a nice park and swimming beach. Its main claim to fame is its six hundred meter causeway to Granite Island and the Clydesdale drawn tram that gets you there. The island is home to Little Penguins and a good place for whale watching in the season.

About 4:30 and we were a little over an hour from the cottage. We turned westward and followed the inland road back to Oakbank. The drive back went quickly, a great way to spend the afternoon, good roads and no traffic....

We stayed at Adelaide Hills Country Cottages, just outside of the village of Oakbank... very nice . Well located for all the wine regions, about an hour from Barossa area and an hour to Mclaren Vale.

You have to be at the airport around 8AM, but you can easily drive from the coastal area to the airport(south of the main downtown) if you don't mind getting up early. We drove in Cape Jeris in something over two hours. You don't have to go through the main downtown.

Enjoy your trip.

Hope this helps.

Hi again. Some great descriptions and comments from cwn above. Just to clarify, dandc asked "if we decide to visit Barossa for a day, is there a good way to get down to McLaren Vale? Or is it necessary to travel back through Adelaide?"

There IS a very pleasant drive from Oakbank as cwn suggests above but Oakbank is not 'in the Barossa' - it is at least an hour away from the Barossa and then perhaps a little less than that from the coast (without stopping for any sightseeing) and would form part of the "back way" that I have mentioned above.

cwn and ozgirl -- thank you for the details - very helpful. Alas,more choices to make but lots of more good ideas!

I am going to toss out an possible idea...if you are wanting to have time for good food, wine tasting and some time to see the beautiful coast....consider:

Arrival day drive on to Barossa and spend nights 1 and 2 in a B&B in Barossa area. Then on day 3 drive down through Hahndorf to a B&B in Mclaren Vale area for nights 3 and 4, maybe a B&B connected to one of the vineyards or with a coastal view. Travel day, day 5, would be an early day to get to the airport for your 10AM plane, but doable if you picked a place closer to Adelaide.

Both Barossa and McLaren Vale have wineries and good places to stay and eat. I read about some good ones when planning our time in SA. You would have a full day at each place for relaxing and wine tasting and you would also have a taste of the coast near McLaren.

From Barossa to McLaren Vale is really an easy pleasant drive of about two hours plus stops as Ozgirl said. Hahndorf is worth a stop. If you wanted to spend more time driving on day 3, you could drive out the Flerieu Way a bit.

We drove from Skillogalee Winery and Cottages in Clare Valley to Barossa for some wine tasting and on to Oakbank one day. Then a day later we did the loop fron Oakbank stated above.

We spent a couple of hours our first day in SA exploring downtown Adelaide. It is a very nice small clean modern city with an interesting CBD that we enjoyed walking around. But for us the wine areas, all an hour or two drive from Aselaide, were so much more fun, If you get to Adelaide by noon or so, you could see the city and be in Barossa in time for a nice evening.

Just an idea, this is a great part of Australia, you will enjoy anything you do! Have Fun,

cwn, this is a really interesting idea. I was assuming to stay in Adelaide on day 1 but this may be a good way to do everything.
thanks!